good voiceover agents in the USA

[Pierre Maubouche]

I posted the followign on savvy but got just one response... I would have thought that it would be quite a hot topic for artists to land a good agent so, is that a taboo topic in the US of A?
______________

Being on the other side of the pond, I don't know, so I ask... which voiceover agents covering the whole of the USA are good and represent their clients well, are proactive, this sort of thing?

[Jon Morss]

Pierre,

I think it will really depend on what area in VO you would like to get rep in. But, I would start by looking at some big name VO artists (Bob Bergen, Pat Fraley, Julie and so on) and see who represents them. I certainly would not suggest the agent I have in Sac town, but then again I am not a big name dude.

James Alburger has some really resources for this as well:

http://www.voiceacting.com/links/representation/


Good luck,

Jon

[KaraEdwards]

Certainly not taboo! Another place to look is www.voicebank.net.

It's a great place to hear 'the best of the best' in VO and get a list of both union and non-union agents.

Different agents seem to provide different things. I have one agency that sends out great leads to a group and it is up to you to book the job with a great audition. I have another agent that is wonderful at getting me work(I am her go-to 'teen' and 'no one else can do it, call Kara'- girl). Finally, I have a new agent I am just becoming accustomed to and still learning her style.

Recommending names might not help- you may have a completely different experience. I also go for the non-exclusive thing. Unless it is a top agent that will supply you with tons of work, you need to protect yourself.

Good luck!

[JoeActor]

Let's not forget the ever popular www.voiceoverresourceguide.com

It has Agencies, Casting Agents, and much much more...

If you land a new agent, tell 'em I sent ya!!!
;-)

Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

[Julie Williams]

Hi Pierrre,

No. it's not taboo to talk about or recommend agents.

My Houston agent has been working harder than any of my others lately, and she's open to new talent... although she's been so swamped that she hasn't been able to listen to demos lately. I produced a demo for one of her talent, and she hasn't had time to listen to it yet! So you probably won't get a fast response from her. But Simone Fiojiel (sp?) got a quick response from her.

BUT she's busy sending out several auditions a day... and booking! So I can't complain.

Her name is Denise Coburn, Owner of Actor's Etc. 713-785-4495. actorsetc@birch.net.

Be sure to mention to her that you're bilingual as well! She is on voicebank.net and I think a lot of her leads come from there. I'm on a few spots for a new skin care line through her...and there's talk of them going national... they're in test phase right now.

I have a number of other agents, but frankly, she's really the only one I hear from regularly. Most of the work I do, I get on my own. \

Working with Denise is easy too. She emails out auditions, and you email them back. That's all there is to it.

[Pierre Maubouche]

Thanks for your replies guys, much appreciated! And if you want to know anything about the UK or the French market fire away :wink:

[avitoots]

Also, keep in mind that if the agency you're approaching has several talents in your general category, they may not be able to sign you. Years ago I met a woman who had a lucrative VO career in New York and moved to Chicago. She sent her demo to Voices Unlimited which is one of the top VO agencies in town (however, they were bought by another agency, I think it was a New York agency, so I'm not sure if they're still called Voices Unlimited) and the only reason she was signed by them was that five of their female talent had just left town leaving 5 spaces open on their roster (one of the talent was Tina Fey). So, sometimes, timing can be everything.

Arlene Kahn

[seth1864]

A question I haven't seen around here, or on the other site (tho I haven't actually been really LOOKING...)-

Is there a big benefit to having multiple agents in multiple cities? Don't they all pull from the same general sources?

I have agency representation here in San Francisco, but should I be looking for agents in like Chicago, New York, Miami, Houston, LA, et al?

Is there a real difference between local and outside agents?

Should this be something to talk to my agent about?

It's a beautiful day here, 68 degrees and sunny. I wish I could go outdoors... :)

[avitoots]

Originally Posted by seth1864

A question I haven't seen around here, or on the other site (tho I haven't actually been really LOOKING...)-

Is there a big benefit to having multiple agents in multiple cities? Don't they all pull from the same general sources?

I have agency representation here in San Francisco, but should I be looking for agents in like Chicago, New York, Miami, Houston, LA, et al?

Is there a real difference between local and outside agents?

Should this be something to talk to my agent about?

It's a beautiful day here, 68 degrees and sunny. I wish I could go outdoors... :)

It's raining and flooding in the Chicago area and the Giants just beat the Cubs.

I can only speak from my personal experience which is limited in number and variety of agents. I have agents in Milwaukee and Chicago. I know that each agency has it's own clients which deal primarily with the individual agencies. I remember meeting a commercial producer many, many moons ago at a Women In Film/Chicago event who told me that he wouldn't use a particular talent agency because of a negative experience he had with them. That spoke volumes to me and I then realized that producers/talent buyers have their favorite agencies. Bottom line, if the market you're in allows you to be multi-listed (I don't think that's the case in all markets, but correct me if I'm wrong), it probably pays to be multi-listed because the agency probably has it's own set of clients which primarily use that agency. I know I'm rambling but did I make sense?

Arlene Kahn

[bobbin beam]

Seth,
I have a number of agents around the country. Unless you're signed to an exclusive, you may pursue having multiple agents. Very rarely have any of the same auditions crossed, in which case if it DOES happen, and you win the job, the booking and the commission goes to the agent who contacted you first. Having more agents keeps me busy being booked.